Sly 4: Split Between The Law​Written by Slygirl25 and originally published on The Cooper Vault in 2006Editors Note: This was written seven years before Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time was released, and thus it has no correlation to the actual fourth installment in the Sly Cooper series.

Chapter 1: Sly's Letters

Dear Carmelita,

I have something I must tell you, but saying it will take too long, So instead I’ll express my feelings, in my own way of song, I told you one big lie and you told one of your own, I remember my past and without it I feel alone, I'm meeting up with old friends as you are at rest, But when you awake I hope your decision is best, I'll return the next day and you will have a choice, Put me right into jail or let some thieves rejoice, But I have only one question that I must ask, I might need your help for this very dangerous task, Bentley built a time machine to stop the wheelchair happening, And he discovered an awful truth after watching him collapsing, He still needs his wheel chair as well as an army more, For an enemy is still alive nelya is her name and destruction is her chore, So whatever you decide remember one things true, Now and forever, Carm I love you.

Sly Cooper

Carmelita held out the note. She reread it to make sure she wasn’t imagining it."Nelya" she whispered to herself and she felt her face get hot with anger. What would theyoung police woman do? She saw teardrops across the paper from Sly. Carmelita neverrealized how much he loved her, she always thought the charming thief was playing trickson her. She always had her suspicion Sly was lying about his memories loss but she wouldnever have guessed Nelya was still alive. She wasn't used to have such little information so there was only one thing she could do, join onto the other side of the law.…Carmelita stared out the window for some sign of the thief which she has never been able to find. Hours seemed to pass and Carmelita eyes caught sight of a black figureand a yellow sparkle from a cane fall from the rooftop and onto the balcony. He didn't havehis normal charming smile wrapped around his face which only made Carmelita more nerves.

"So... have you made up your mind?" Sly asked with a deep voice.Carmelita only gave a simple nod but she couldn't manage to give him an exact answer. Sly looked at her with flooding eyes and held out his wrists. Carmelita finally couldn't take itand managed to speak.

"no... I won't arrest you, I will join you."Sly swiftly pulled her into a hug.

"So what is it we will do?" Carmelita had no clue what a thief was to do.

"We must go back in time to plant the tracker onto Nelya. And when we come back Nelya is surly going to have an army of her own we must quickly get an army together then we need to fight through hers and finally get to Neyla herself with luck she isn't as strong as Bentley is suggesting...We need to get going Nelya won't hold back her army forever."

Sly swung her up into his arms and he pounced out into the crisp early morning. Carmelitaonly felt this excitement of thievery once when Neyla first betrayed her. She loved the windthrough her hair and the man of her dreams carrying her across the thinnest of wires. Shejust realized Sly's grip was tight and his eyes were still filled with tears.

"Why are you still crying sly?" Carmelita asked out of her control. She wasn’t really expecting him to answer but he always surprises her.

"Because I can't believe that you've finally joined my side." more tears burst through his eyes as he said this. "his side" Carmelita thought "I guess his side wasn't what I ever thought it would be. I think I'll enjoy this."

"sly? If I’m going to be on your side then I always wanted to ask you...How do you do all these moves so well I mean your falling off buildings and across wires. How?"

Sly retold his famous story once again about the book and his father's death.

"wow! I never knew that. I really can't believe how stupid I was for trying to throw you in jail for retrieving your own book. I guess I really was on the wrong side."Sly looked like a 1000 pound bolder was lifted off his back at her words "IT'S ABOUT TIME! It only took 10 years to get you to think that!" they both chuckled. Carmelita felt awake forthe first time in her life. "can you teach me your moves from the theviuos raccoonus sly?"

Sly's charming simile finally managed to form on his face "I thought you'd never ask." He flipped her out of his arms and onto the wire he was currently walking across while he heldher hand tightly. Carmelita was the fastest learner sly ever saw. " I never knew you couldlearn so quickly." sly joked "I never knew you could write poems" Carmelita joked back. Carmelita followed sly the rest of the way on her own feet till they got to a rusty old house. "Welcome to the safe house, Carm."

When Sly came through the door Bentley, Penelope and Murray were waiting for them. They all had a shocking look when Carmelita followed him through the door.

"ummm..." Bentley said "...welcome to the team Carmelita." everyone felt acward for a moment. Then Sly said "Well we should get stared! Fire up that machine and let’s get going."

"I think I'll wait." Carmelita said. "I'm not comfortable starting something right away can I just have a look around?” Carmelita was a little scared seeing Nelya again.

"Sure. Your room is the third door on the left down the hallway. Bentley said, He mumbledinto carm’s ears "Sly's been working on it all day".Carmelita giggled and gave Sly a glance.He looked embarrassed he must have overheard the whisper.

She watched her team walk through the portal into the past then ran down the hallway into her room. It was a nice shade of blue with a furry mattress and a pink blanketin the corner of the room, a small laptop on a freshly painted desk, a wardrobe also painted a new color. She looked into the wardrobe that she expected to be empty but wasfilled!

There was a blue uniform with gold laces to match Sly's, a small backpack, a new blue gun, a gun holder belt, a blue necklace with sly's logo on it, a large cylinder with lots ofbuttons that she saw Sly looking through earlier, an ear piece, and blue earrings. She couldn't believe her eyes. In the back she saw a sack that was filled with money. She poured out the sack to count the coins and a note fell out as well. First she counted the coins which came out to be 500 coins. Then she read the note

Dear Carm, You might be reading this if you agreed to come with me. And don't worry I didn't steal any of those coins from villagers only criminals. Sure five hundred doesn’t last very long in the thieving world which you'll soon find out butI'll teach you how to get more. I'm really glad your here Carm. Believe me I was never thebad guy you thought I was. I just can't wait to see the next officers face when they see the new and improved Cooper gang. We will rest for four days so try to get used to sleeping in daylight to get used to the night life. Ttyl

Carmelita was shocked by all the stuff Sly had gotten her. She was also surprisedthat he said 500 gold coins don’t last long! She went over to the labtop to wright in her online journal. The first thing that popped up was an interesting website called theifnet. She looked through a few pages and saw some of the stuff sly had gotten her she also saw some interesting gadgets at extremely high prices! She signed onto her journal and reherced the poem Sly wrote for her.

Carmelita walked back down the hall. It sure was takeing a long time for her friends to return. She gazed into the portal and watched the event of Bentley’s accident. She noticed that how Nelya dug her way out of the bird and jump into the lake. She was surprised she didn’t notice it back then while she was in the helicoppter. Bentley shot the tracker off his sleep dart launcher and soon the team walked back through the portal.

“I don’t know about you guys but I’m beat.” Sly said while yawning. “its 7 in the morning I think we should sleep to get used to night travel.”

Chapter 2: The Training

Carmelita managed to sleep most of the day because of the fact she stayed up last night waiting for Sly’s arrival. She wondered around the hall, and she peered into the room filled with Sly’s snores. He had a muscular chest, and his hair hung down the side of his cunning face and he looked so adorable when he was sleeping. She noticed that his room was covered in pictures of her from very long ago.

Sly was much sweeter then she thought she sat at his desk and looked through a stack of old newspapers mostly about her or an escape of a mysterious criminal with no clue but a blue calling card. “No wonder I was always to tired to catch him” Carmelita said to herself “he sleeps all day!”

Carmelita opened his filing cabinet the file sly stole from her long ago was the first thing, there was a few more old news papers and a thick file that said top secret on it.

“Snooping for clue’s “inspector”?” Sly said now wide awake.

“Come on, you know I’m on your side “ringtail”…I was just checking out your room.” Carmelita said half blushing.

“You didn’t quit your job yet did you?”

“Well… no I woke up ,read your note and waited for you…why?”

“Well, it might come in handy…”

“You mean like a double-sided agent? That would make me just as bad as Neyla.”

“No way! Nelya’s a backstabbing cretin, you can’t trust her as far as you can through her… and she’s told more then one lie unlike someone.” Sly said cunningly gesturing to Carmelita.

“Hey Sly? I don’t get it I was in a helicopter! How come I didn’t see Nelya swimming across the lake? Carmelita said changing the subject.

“That’s because she wasn’t there before.” Carmelita stared at Sly questionably. Before she could ask Sly told her the story.“Well Bentley went back to the past before any of us knew he was finished with the machine. He had this weird sticky stuff he was going to put in the beck to keep it open. But apparently it wasn’t strong enough It kept the beck open longer but the younger Bentley got caught in some of the goop. But the beck was like a two-sided trapdoor if the beck is closed the back of the neck is closed but if the beck is open… Nelya’s would have an escape route. Bentley said it wasn’t possible to visit that time again something about a time limit in each part of time. We burned up all the time going back to put on the tracker we surly wouldn’t have enough time to stop Neyla then to just put on the tracker so that’s what we did.” Sly stopped the story to let Carmelita ask her questions. She looked more confused with every word. “So why is it Bentley thinks she’s stronger then what she used to be?”

“Well the time she spent in clock-la somehow changed her there must have been a hidden engine at the bottom of the blimp for her to take more energy from. If you want a full briefing go ask Bentley he’ll explain everything.”

“No thanks, that was confusing enough. Why do we need 4 days to rest up?And what is there to do around here?

“Once again go ask Bentley, he won’t tell us for some reason. But there’s a lot we can do! Well first we could try out some pick pocketing… Your not much of a thief unless you’ve stole something.”

“Ummm… I’m not so sure Sly there won’t bee any criminal’s to practice on and I won’t steal from average people.”

“Here’s your thief right here.” Sly said pointing to himself. Carmelita giggled as Sly lead the way outside.

“um…Sly I don’t have anything to pickpocket with remember?”

“Try out the cane.”

“But if I wasn’t pick pocketing someone for practice then what would I use?

“I was thinking we could buy you a cane or sword or something so you can switch between your gun and your pickpocket tool.”

“You’ve really thought of everything.”

“Well I pretty much been paining these for years.”

Carmelita blushed again he was always so charming it always surprised her. Sly showed her the correct technique to pick pocket as he snatched a piece of parchment out of her back pocket. “Hey! I thought I was suppose to practice on you!”

“Just a demonstration.” Sly said smiling cunningly. He passed her the cane and said “first things first you need to study the victims movement because you wouldn’t want them to turn around and find you.” Sly walked around in a simple circle. Carmelita snickered “give me a challenge ringtail.” Sly just kept walking in circles “Believe me its not as easy as it looks.”

Carmelita reached the cane out and tried to pull a parchment out of his back pocket and oops she reached to far and hit Sly right on the butt.

Sly flinched and turned around. Carmelita blushed. “Guess we know why Bentley gave us 4 days now.” They both chuckled. He didn’t seem to mind the little accident.

Chapter 3: Pretending to Sleep

Sly was the first to awake the next day. Apparently he had a sore on his backside from the pickpocket accidents. He yawned and stared at the clock across the hall. Maybe he could pretend to sleep like he did yesterday when Carmelita explored his room. No, Carmelita wouldn’t be up until a few hours. He figured he would go out for an night walk.

When Sly returned from his walk he found Carmelita sitting on the roof. “Your sure up early, Carm.” Carmelita spun around she wasn’t expecting him either.

“Well I’m a thief now aren’t I? I have to be up earlier.” she said stifling a yawn.

“No really.” Sly said noticing her tiredness.

“Well… I was looking forward to our practice so I went to the roof and watched the sunset, It’s much prettier then the sunrise.” Carmelita used to be a workaholic too busy searching for Cooper never stopping to enjoy sunset’s beauty.

Sly sat down next to her he always used to watch the sunset with his father. His eyes watered at the thought of his father. He was doing a lot of crying this week.

“I want to see him again. But I can’t” Sly said resting his head on the cement roof.

“ And your saying that while we stand over a time machine.”

“I can’t go, If I do I’ll change the past I’d never meet the gang… I’d never meet you.”

“You don’t have to change it. You can just watch it.”

“I’d be to hard knowing I’d never see him again.”

The sun had set below the horizon many people were getting ready for bed and young ones would be snuggling with there parents never aware they could be gone any second “time to train” Sly said

Practice was going very well pick pocketing was coming easier to Carmelita. Sly tested her speed by trying to lose her as he sped across wires and poles. Just like when Sly used to chase Nelya. Carmelita was having trouble keeping up she started skipping wires and mega jumped across buildings.

Sly ended practice without a word. Carmelita was clearly tried of jumping around. Sly sat back down were the sunset was, not to long ago. And he had a sudden flash back.

“Were we going daddy?” the Sly of 6 years asked. His father paused “Someone is “looking” for me and I can’t afford to be found” Sly clearly didn’t understand many words at the time but continued bouncing on his fathers shoulders. His father suddenly turned into an old rusty abandoned building which would eventually become the safe house. “Now son I have a few things to tell you.” Sly was excited ready for another thief tail. “We are her because of what I am… a thief. You will hopefully become one. But I needed to give you something in privet.” He pulled a book out of his sack. “It’s time you’ve become like your old man. This book will tell you how to do it.” He looked sternly in his son’s eyes something he always did when he told him something important. “Now promise me you’ll never think yourself as a bad guy no madder who gets into your head you are a thief but you are still on the right side of the law” Sly grasped the book and held it with wobbly arms. He blew of dust to reveal an interesting cover and a confusing name the Thevious Racoonus. Just then the door was splitting like with a strong force and was trying to be broken down. The book was pulled away and he was shoved into the closet. Blackness… crashing… and a scream the split Sly’s eardrums…blood seeped under the door followed by silence and the smell of his fathers pipe smocking into the closets cracks.

Sly flashed back to the present. To find Carmelita at his side half asleep. She had gotten in his head before but he always remembered his dad’s words. Her beauty amazed him, her hair dark blended into the night sky and curved in the right places and her figure was flawless, she was always prettiest when asleep. He had been dreaming of kissing her ever after their first kiss. Apparently his fathers words got to his head and he ruined the moment by handcuffing her. Carmelita refused to kiss him ever since. Perhaps that was about to change. He laid next to his sleeping beauty.

She was shivering now grasping for an invisible blanket only to find Sly’s shirt which she pulled close to her. Sly felt their bodies touch and fit together like a puzzle piece, he wrapped his arms around her. Never has he felt such warmth and he suddenly grew nervous. He rolled over her and before he knew it he was kissing her, but Carmelita appearing to be in a deep sleep looked unaware of the man on her kissing her like he never felt love his whole life.

Soon aware Carmelita was shivering violently he picked her up. Sly never expecting that she was pretending to sleep just as he had. Sly walked through the door an suddenly stopped in his tracks, the time machine towering over him. “You don’t have to change it. You can just watch it.” Carmelita’s words were ringing in his ears. The machine was calling to him, His father was calling to him. Sly’s hands became lose and he dropped Carmelita on the floor.

“I’m really sorry Carm” Sly said as he watched Carmelita place ice to her side. “You don’t have to be, Sly you already made up for it.” Sly stared questionably and his eyes suddenly shoot open in realization. “You weren’t asleep were you?”

“You tell me.” Carmelita pulled him into another kiss. Every thing went still. Sly’s eyes shut as butterflies danced in his stomach. Carmelita pulled him closer. They were never to question what love truly was because they already knew. ​